Deciding between two laptops

[Jesus1254789]

Hello everyone, I hope your all fine and dandy! :matte-motes-smitten:

I have taken a bit of time to consider on purchasing a laptop for SL along with other programs I use such as MMORPG's, Disc games (Sims, Bioshock, etc.), regular web browsing and Microsoft word. I told a friend about this in SL and he suggested I go to a site called iBUYPOWER and I went and searched on google and went to the site and I FELL IN LOVE! :matte-motes-shocked:

So I narrowed it down to 2 choices!

And the nominees are.... (/me drumrolls)

Battalion 101 W350STQ

 

Processor

Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ Mobile Processor (4x 2.4GHz/6MB L3 Cache)

Memory

8GB [8GB x 1] 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM [Laptop Memory] - Corsair Vengeance

Video Card

NVIDIA GeForce GT 765M 2GB GDDR5 Video w/ NVIDIA Optimus [W350ST]

Intel Smart Response Technology

None

Primary Hard Drive

1 TB 5400rpm Serial-ATA Super Slim Laptop Hard Drive

 

 

 

 

OR

 

 

Attalion 101 W650SR

 

Processor

Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ Mobile Processor (4x 2.4GHz/6MB L3 Cache)

Memory

8GB [8GB x 1] 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM [Laptop Memory] - Corsair Vengeance

Video Card

NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2GB GDDR3 Video w/ NVIDIA Optimus [W650SR]

Primary Hard Drive

1 TB 5400rpm Serial-ATA Super Slim Laptop Hard Drive

 

 

 

I know it's more logical to run SL on a desktop rather than a desktop but I would much rather have portibility.

 

Also, another major thing to consider is the graphics cards. Is the 750 2GB enough and is the 760 2GB overkill? What would run SL smoothly especially in larger and more detail sims along with a good size amount of avatars. 

 

Feel free to express your opinions and give links reviews or better yet, tell me your experience with SL with using a laptop from IBP or one of the graphics cards. Other laptop sites are appreciated too but my budget goes at a max of $1,200

 

 

Thank you for reading and have a great day! 

 

[Frawmusl]

Those laptops are so close I do not think you will see a performance boost using one or the other, the graphics will not change much when you get to that high level of a card. I recommend choosing the cheaper one and upping the RAM to max (16gb). That will see more improvement then one step more on the graphics card

[Persephone Emerald]

I've been reading all the more recent threads on this same subject tonight. I'm also looking at getting a new laptop for SL. With Server Side Baking starting July 9th, I'm going to have to update to something that can run the latest version of Firestorm without turning all the prims in my SL word turn bright pink.

 

From what I gather, 8GBs of RAM is plenty, a good Intel core is fine, but don't get an Intel Graphics card. Get either an nVIDA or an ATI. (How many MBs though?) It's also worth noting that SL is hard on the processor & battery, so always use a cooler under your laptop & keep it plugged in when running SL.

For a laptop cooler, I also love my light-weight & inexpensive Belkin (which can easily be taken apart to clean out the husky fur that accumulates in the fan). 

[Bree Giffen]

The only difference seems to be the video card and about $70. The cheaper one has a 740M and not a 750M. The 765m is apparently much better than the 740m from what I am reading.

 http://www.ibuypower.com/IbpPages/Laptop.aspx

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-765M.92907.0.html

 http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-740M.89900.0.html

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Bree Giffen wrote:

The only difference seems to be the video card and about $70. The cheaper one has a 740M and not a 750M. The 765m is apparently

much

better than the 740m from what I am reading.

 

http://www.ibuypower.com/IbpPages/Laptop.aspx

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-765M.92907.0.html

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-740M.89900.0.html

---

From this benchmark page...

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

You can scroll through the page to see all GPUs, or enter a query at the top of the page.

The scores for those two GPUs are...

GTX-765M = 1546

GT-740M = 1038

Higher is better.

[Jesus1254789]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer guys! I really do appreciate it

 

I chatted with my friend again and he told me that their (750 and 765) differences..isn't THAT huge. I mean sure it's better, but not by much and it's not worth paying another 100 bucks or so. So will the 750 2GB be enough for what I'm looking for in my SL since I think SL is the heaviest program I run.

Thanks again in advance!

[Dillon Levenque]

A word of advice.

If you plan to be anywhere I might viist with whichever of those two laptops you choose, you should probably order the Extra Security Option that allows you to handcuff yourself to the computer.

[Jesus1254789]

LOL you don't have to tell me that

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Jesus1254789 wrote:

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer guys! I really do appreciate it

 

I chatted with my friend again and he told me that their (750 and 765) differences..isn't THAT huge. I mean sure it's better, but not by much and it's not worth paying another 100 bucks or so. So will the 750 2GB be enough for what I'm looking for in my SL since I think SL is the heaviest program I run.

Thanks again in advance!

---

From the benchmark page I linked elsewhere in this thread, it seems the 765 is about 50% faster than the 750. I believe SL is limited to using no more than 512MBytes of GPU RAM. If you will not be running other graphics intensive programs at the same time as SL, 2G of GPU RAM might be overkill. If you can configure your laptop with 1G of GPU memory, you'll save some money that you could apply towards the faster GPU, or pizza with friends.

[Jesus1254789]

I think I read a post stating that SL takes no more than 1GB. Thank you for the link, it was very informative! I would love to have the option to only have 1GB, but 2GB cards is all they're offering so no dice

 

I just really want to know if the 750 2GB is enough for  what I want in SL (big places, runing on med-high with high FPS along with a good amount of avatars) specifically since it's one of the programs I would be using the most.

 

[Dillon Levenque]

The default option on the Battalion is the GT 740, but there is an option to upgrade to the GT 750, if the link here is accurate: http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Battalion_101_W650SR_Gaming_Laptop. The OP says 750. That card (once I finally found it) tests out at 1685, even better than the GT 765.

That would make the Battalion 650 even more attractive, I'd think.

 

ETA: Since that made no sense (I've been told more than once that Nvidia chips have performance directly related to their number sequence) I noticed that you checked the GTX 765—the OP's example used a GT 765. Possibly having an X in there indicates a lower level of performance, although I would have assumed the opposite.

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Dillon Levenque wrote:

The default option on the Battalion is the GT 740, but there is an option to upgrade to the GT 750, if the link here is accurate:

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Battalion_101_W650SR_Gaming_Laptop

. The OP says 750. That card (once I finally found it) tests out at 1685, even better than the GT 765.

That would make the Battalion 650 even more attractive, I'd think.

 

ETA: Since that made no sense (I've been told more than once that Nvidia chips have performance directly related to their number sequence) I noticed that you checked the GT

X

765—the OP's example used a GT 765. Possibly having an

X

in there indicates a lower level of performance, although I would have assumed the opposite.

---

I think the OP's computer description for the first laptop is wrong. nVIDIA does not make a GT-765M, just the GTX-765M.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware

Here's another comparison of the GTX-765M and the GT-750M which doesn't quite agree with the first benchmark site I linked...

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-765M-vs-GeForce-GT-750M

[Suspiria Finucane]

---

Jesus1254789 wrote:

 

 I just really want to know if the 750 2GB is enough for  what I want in SL (big places, runing on med-high with

high FPS along with a good amount of avatars

) specifically since it's one of the programs I would be using the most.

 

---

 The 750M will probably disappoint you for your vague specifications. High FPS along with a good amount of avatars is dependent on what you consider high FPS and amount of av's. If high is 10 FPS and av's are around 10, you may get the results you're looking for. If by what high end users experience 30 or more FPS with 20 or more av's then no, the 750 doesn't cut it.

Unfortunately myself and other posters don't know your exact specs for your SL usage. We can generalize by what you write but it may not be accurate. More info is always better.

[Suspiria Finucane]

---

Jesus1254789 wrote:

 

 Is the 750 2GB enough and is the 760 2GB overkill?

 

---

From my experience and from what I've read from others, there is no overkill in regards to SL. Anything that enhances your experience is good. The primary argument is typically cost vs performance. For those of us who can afford the luxury of a high end card, performance always wins, for others cost is the deciding factor.

Additionally I can say without a doubt, increasing your ram from 8GB - 16GB (using the same hardware and memory type) will not improve your SL experience. Increasing your GPU capacity however will. Again, cost vs performance.

[Orca Flotta]

With Nvidia it's like that: the higher the number the better! Period!

The first number shows the generation of cards. So right now the new cards are 7xx.

The second number shows the performance of the card: x1x = crap, x8x = can't be much better, x9x = SLI.

Cards with a 5 at the end are for laptops, the even numbers are for desktops. And while you  can't compare the performance of a, say, 6x5 to a proper 6x0, it's still the same numbers game in their respective setups. 

Cards up to x50 used to be GT and above that they were GTX. In the latest editions nVidia starts the GTX series with their x50s cards already

So without any reasearch and nitpicking the answer is an easy one: laptop 1 is the preferred buy over laptop 2. Simple as that! :smileyhappy:

.

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Orca Flotta wrote:

With Nvidia it's like that: the higher the number the better! Period!

The first number shows the generation of cards. So right now the new cards are 7xx.

The second number shows the performance of the card: x1x = crap, x8x = can't be much better, x9x = SLI.

Cards with a 5 at the end are for laptops, the even numbers are for desktops. And while you  can't compare the performance of a, say, 6x5 to a proper 6x0, it's still the same numbers game in their respective setups. 

Cards up to x50 used to be GT and above that they were GTX. In the latest editions nVidia starts the GTX series with their x50s cards already

So without any reasearch and nitpicking the answer is an easy one: laptop 1 is the preferred buy over laptop 2. Simple as that! :smileyhappy:

.

---

Orca, by your description, nVIDIA would not be able to produce a new generation of chips until the lowest performance in that generation exceeded the highest performance of the previous generation.

This benchmark page (which is not the be-all and end-all of measurements) shows plenty of examples where higher numbers are worse...

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

Examples (higher benchmark number is better)...

GTX 285 = 1248 (Here, by your description, the 5 indicates "laptop")

GT 730M = 1062 (Here, by my description, the M indicates "mobile')

For currently available cards...

GTX 680 = 5687

GTX 760 = 5198

and 

GTX 660 = 4104

GTX 680M = 3579

Here's how I think it works...

Within a generation (most significant digit) and a kind (same prefix (GTX, GT, etc) and suffix (M, X, etc)) higher numbers are better. But there are usually at least two generations of chips in the marketplace at any time (currently 6xx and 7xx), and several variants of the family (mobile, X, etc) so the comparisons can be more difficult than you suggest.

M indicates "mobile" which emphasizes low power over high performance.

X seems to mean "eXtra" something, as all X versions of a thing are faster than non, as in...

GTX 680M = 3579

GTX 680MX = 4394

 

[Orca Flotta]

Orca, by your description, nVIDIA would not be able to produce a new generation of chips until the lowest performance in that generation exceeded the highest performance of the previous generation.

No, why should it? A 680 is still better than a 730. How's that?

I gotta admit that I didn't take nVidia's latest gaming tricks into consideration. So I should say the xx5 numbers were used for laptops, but now they are replaced by M.

Oh my, I'm an old and confused woman ... don't ever listen to anything I say.

 

GTX 285 = 1248 (Here, by your description, the 5 indicates "laptop")

GT 730M = 1062 (Here, by my description, the M indicates "mobile')

 

It's a logical outcome. The middle number indicates the speed of a card/chip. So even the much much older 285 outperforms the new lowspecced 730, as was to be expected.

For currently available cards...

GTX 680 = 5687

GTX 760 = 5198

and 

GTX 660 = 4104

GTX 680M = 3579

 

Same story here: 68 beats 76. And in the second pairing the desktop chip beats the mobile version.

 

Within a generation (most significant digit)

No, it isn't. Generational steps are often not as huge as marketing makes us believe. The most significant digit is the middle number.

 

 

[Bree Giffen]

I was looking at all the benchmarks and tried to compare these mobile chips to my own desktop. It appears that the lowest 740m still has better benchmark results than mine. SL runs fairly smooth on my system but there are so many things that will affect yourframerate from the SL graphics settings to your internet to your network. I think the 740m should be fine.

[Robert135]

Either laptop will run sl without a problem on ultra settings, get laptop 1 as the gtx cards are far better. You still may need to turn off shadows or something in a busy sim. With either laptop your only bottleneck will be your internet connection.. these laptops are both quite top of the line and will have no issue for years with sl. Btw them optimistic hard drives are lovely with sl enjoy.